8 key findings about Catholics and abortion
Like U.S. adults overall, the majority of U.S. Catholics say abortion should be legal – at least in some cases.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Hispanic teens enjoy religious activities with parents, but fewer view religion as ‘very important’
U.S. Hispanic teens are more likely than U.S. teens overall to identify as Catholic and say it’s necessary to believe in God to be moral.
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Three-quarters of U.S. Catholics view Pope Francis favorably, though partisan differences persist
Americans’ opinions of Pope Francis have rebounded slightly after hitting an all-time low almost two years ago in the wake of abuse scandals.
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Many Catholics in Latin America – including a majority in Brazil – support allowing priests to marry
In Brazil – home to the world’s largest Catholic population – a majority of Catholics are in favor of allowing priests to marry.
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The Digital Pulpit: A Nationwide Analysis of Online Sermons
This Pew Research Center analysis harnesses computational techniques to identify, collect and analyze the sermons that U.S. churches livestream or share on their websites each week.
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U.S. Catholics less likely than Protestants to express confidence in advice from clergy
Catholics have less confidence in their clergy’s advice than Protestants – and are less likely to claim a close relationship with clergy.
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In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace
The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip, with both Protestantism and Catholicism experiencing losses of population share.
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Just one-third of U.S. Catholics agree with their church that Eucharist is body, blood of Christ
Just 31% of U.S. Catholics believe that the bread and wine used in Communion become the body and blood of Christ. Nearly seven-in-ten say the Eucharist is symbolic.
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Key takeaways about how Americans view the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church
A majority of U.S. adults say recent reports of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church reflect problems that are still happening.
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Americans See Catholic Clergy Sex Abuse as an Ongoing Problem
More than 15 years after U.S. bishops pledged “zero tolerance” for sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests, reports of previously unpublicized misconduct continue to receive wide media coverage.
